ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Tuesday rejected all the petitions for disqualification of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
A seven-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Nasirul Mulk was hearing the case in Islamabad on Tuesday.
The petitions had been filed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Ishaq Khakwani, the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and advocate Gauhar Nawaz, stating that Sharif had lied on the floor of the National Assembly on the issue of arbitration by the army during the current political crises.
The petitioners argued that the premier had asked army chief General Raheel Sharif to act as a ‘mediator’ between the government and protesting parties – the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) – and serve as a ‘guarantor’ to any agreement with the parties.
They alleged that the prime minister had later lied in front of Parliament and denied making any such request, and should therefore be disqualified in view of article 63 of the Constitution.
However, the bench today declared that petitioners failed to satisfy court about ‘mistake’ of the prime minister.
The court questioned how mis-statement is established from the petitions filed by the applicants.
It also observed that article 62 of the constitution is applicable before elections and 63 after the elections.
